“FOR CHARITY’S SWEET SAKE.”

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8181, 24 July 1912, Page 4

“FOR CHARITY’S SWEET SAKE.”

FRAUDS UPON THE PUBLIC. BOGUS PROMOTERS UNMASKED. moii orra special coekespoitomit. LONDON, Juno 13. London has for generations suffered from the depredation, of the bogus char-.ty-mongor, and sine© the Titanic disaster tho metropolis has been overwhelm-' od with entertainments and house to House collections "in aid of the sufferers" by that appalling marine catastrophe. Many of these entertainments were quits genuine, and tho proceeds dealt with in a proper manner, but it is to be feared, that a very large number of the entertainments were tun by people who had the lining of their own pockets principally in view, and that a good deal of tbs money collected by house to house visitation has never reached the goal desired by contributors. The Titanic disaster, indeed, appears to have provided a bountiful harvest for the professional charity cutertamment monger and collector, lb as sad to think that there are people in the world- who can bring themselves ta play upon the charitable sentiments of their fellow men for their own ends in connection with such an occurence as the loss of tho Titanic, but tho Old Country swarms with men and women who either make their living or add to their incomes by exploiting disasters or more or less bogus charities. In spito of the efiwta 01 the uantj organisation Society tuere exist in England to-day scores of “homes" and institutions of various sorts which exist principally for the benefit of their loundero, anu not a few that are entirely bogus. "Truth,” and the Charity Organisation Society have done, and are doing a good work in exposing and suppressing tho really bogus affairs ana in bringing about the reform of those which are not oeing run on honest lines, but no sooner nas a bogus “home," institution, ox society been suppressed, than another ons takes its place. Some of the frauds which have been exposed by the Charity Organisation Society have a humorous side- For in. stance, a married couple with a small lamily. and a large retinue of maiden aunts hit upon the expedient of opening a "home" tor elderly indigent ladies, in support of which a "grana concert" was given under the patronage of an "inlinential committee" of'knights and esquires and dames, whose names are not .u be found in any book of references. Tho beneficent "foundress" of the homo *as described in the prospectus us “Madam© So-and-So," and the gecretary as “John James, Esq." . Inquiries revealed the fact that ‘'John James, Esq.," was mo promoter’s little boy of five, that “ Madame," whdso “munificence" gava tho home its start, was a little girl of ten, and that the inmates were the elderly maiden aunts referred to. Even more amusing was the "Gold Collection" reception. The, promoters conceived the idea of founding a women's institution. The sympathies of a. benevolent lady in a good social position were so stirred that she not only lent her name but gave her services as organiser - in the formation of a committee that included many well-known people. Then a reception was given, at which a large number of ladies, attracted by tho glamour of the committee list, attended. The feature of the reception was the "Gold Collection." It was stipulated that all donations must be in gold. The response was splendid. Not only single sovereigns, but .packets of two and three sovereigns each were passed up to the chairman, duly acknowledged, and then handed over to one of the promoters, who transferred tho coin to a confederate in the background, by whom it was earned round to the front of the hall, only to come up again and again as new contributions, it seemed to rain gold that aiternoon, and this probably had. some effect in stimulating the generosity of those present, but the net gain to the "institution" was disappointing. Scores of similar cases might be given as evidence of the fact that there is an army of plausible, smooth-spoken, welldressed people in and around London organising theatrical performances, concerts, bazaars, and similar entertainments in aid of charities. As has been remarked, a gooa many of these charities are genuine, but all they -gain from many of these appeals is from ten.-to twenty per cent, of the proceeds of tie entertainments; the balance is absorbed in "expenses." In those cases,where the charities themselves are bogus, tho promoters, of course, take all the proceeds. Tho Charity Organisation Society has a list of "charitabi*! institutions" to which the public have contributed tens of thousands of pounds but which never existed except on paper. Occasionally a man or woman of these classes of charity promoters makes a slip, and falls into the hands of the police, but a good many of them retire" under circumstances more satisfactory to themselves.